‘We've got a one-off game against Manchester United this afternoon,’ you're thinking, ‘and if we win it we have a very good chance of staying in the Premier League.

‘Have we got the quality to win the game? Absolutely we have. We've proven that with results over the past couple of years.

‘We’re at home, it’s a full house, there’s not a lot of expectation, we’re favourites to go down, the pressure is off, we can go out and play with freedom.’

Those are the sort of thoughts that will take all the strain off Hull’s player’s today and I've no doubt they will have gone to bed last night thinking the same – which will have enabled them to get a good night’s sleep.

Out of their hands: Dawson and co. can only do their part and wait for results elsewhere (Image: Julian Finney)

They won’t need to get themselves up for the game because they are ­playing against arguably the world’s most glamorous club and I think this afternoon is all set up for something special from the Tigers.

You went to bed last night thinking, ‘If that one pass I hit in the first 10 minutes goes astray then we could be in all sorts of trouble early on.

Demanding: Toon players have struggled to keep fans on side (Image: Plumb Images)

‘That Geordie roar that greets us when we run out will suddenly turn fractious and the black cloud will ­descend over the stadium.

‘Things have not been good – we have drawn one of our last 10 games and lost the rest – and if things don’t go well for us today we’re going to have 52,000 p**** * off supporters ready to ­blockade the stadium at the final whistle. Things could get ugly.’

That isn't the mindset anyone needs going into a game, especially not one of this magnitude, and it could be ­significant in determining the fate of these two sides.

Things could get ugly: After losing at QPR, the Toon are under pressure (Image: Getty)

I’m going to put this one out there – and I’d be happy to be wrong – and say Hull will beat United and Newcastle will only draw with West Ham, meaning it is the Toon who go down to the ­Championship. That’s how I see it.

And whatever happens, whether they stay up or cap a miserable season with relegation, it won’t change the fact that Newcastle really are in a sorry state and have been for the past 18 months.

If you go back to the January transfer window in 2014, the club was at a ­crossroads. Paris Saint-Germain had come in for Yohan Cabaye and the question was simple – were they going to keep their best players and build, or were they going to sell?

They sold and that was confirmation for me that they were going to sell their quality assets at every opportunity.

They sent out a message to all ­potential future managers that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley would not back them and it’s why they won’t get a decent man in the managerial hot seat for some time to come.

Dire: Carver has overseen a run of one point in 10 games (Image: Reuters)

It would not surprise me if interim coach John Carver got the job full time or if it was someone that in terms of reputation and experience is on a ­similar scale to him – and I really do worry for the club going forward.

It seems to me that Ashley has a stubborn willingness to run the club down. For a man with such huge ­resources and business acumen, that surprises me. It would only take ­£30million or £40m a season to breathe life into Newcastle, which they can easily recoup from the TV deal.

It would get them back to the top of the table and the Geordie supporters off his back.

Sadly for the Toon Army, Ashley’s mindset just seems to be one of ‘I ­really can’t be bothered with that’.